Content originally from The King’s Fund
The government has ‘fixed’ social care
Myth
The current government claims to have ‘fixed’ social care, delivering on the pledge made by the Prime Minister when he arrived in Downing Street in 2019.
The facts
Social care has long been under-resourced. Significant reductions in local authority funding during the austerity years exacerbated this, leading to cuts to social care budgets, While more investment has been provided in recent years, in 2019/20 funding has only just returned to the levels of 2010/11 despite a significant increase in demand.
Growing pressures on services have been compounded by the failure of successive governments to deliver long-promised reform. As a result, the social care system is in crisis and is failing the people who rely on it, with high levels of unmet need and providers struggling to deliver the quality of care that older and disabled people have a right to expect.
In 2021 the current government finally introduced major reform to adult social care, with changes to the means test and a cap on the lifetime costs of social care which will be funded by the Health and Care Levy. Additional reform measures include further integration with health care and an intervention in the social care market intended to ensure local authorities pay a ‘fair price’ to providers for the care they commission from them.
Despite these changes one in seven people are still estimated to face lifetime care costs of more than £100,000.
The government deserves credit for going further than previous administrations. The cap will protect people against the very highest costs of care, while the extended means test will enable 40–50,000 more people will be able to access state-funded care each year, However, changes to how the cap and the means test work together mean that the principle beneficiaries will be wealthier people, while people with low to moderate assets in parts of the North and Midlands will benefit less. Despite these changes one in seven people are still estimated to face lifetime care costs of more than £100,000.
The reform package does little to tackle the other fundamental problems, including high levels of unmet need, chronic workforce shortages and a fragile provider market. The pressure on services also has a significant knock-on effect on the NHS, as thousands of patients who are well enough to be discharged are unable to leave hospital due to delays in identifying social care support.
Verdict
This government has acted where its predecessors failed to do so by introducing significant reforms to social care funding and eligibility. However, far from being ‘fixed’, the social system remains under intense pressure with an unstable provider market, a workforce crisis, and high levels of unmet need. Unless these problems are addressed, it will continue to fail the people who rely on it.
SWF Health & Social Care Group 